Real Kyper & Bourne - Calamity in Columbus

Episode Date: January 29, 2024

Nick Kypreos and Justin Bourne start with Blue Jackets reporter Aaron Portzline (4:23) to discuss the mess in Columbus - Patrick Laine checking into the NHL's player assistance program, David Jiricek's frustration at being demoted to the AHL again and how GM Jarmo Kekäläinen will approach the deadline. They regroup with Sam McKee for news and notes - Todd McLellan's seat starting to heat up as the Kings struggles continue, Chris Tanev/Senators rumours and Kuzmenko potentially on the way out of Vancouver.The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the hosts and guests and do not necessarily reflect the position of Rogers Sports & Media or any affiliates.

let's welcome everybody into the real kipper and born show this is the national edition of our show we are live on sportsnet sports at 650 in vancouver and sports at 960 in calgary this hour of real kipper and born brought to you by bet 365 nick kiprios justin born sammy mckee for the next hour. It is NHL All-Star Week. Yes. So we're going to have some. Are you excited?

We're going to have some great guests. I don't know who they are because Sammy's going to surprise us all week. Yes. It's going to be McDavid and Bettman and no. But in the meantime. I've been told that I made those up. But in the meantime, all week, send i made those up but in the meantime all week send us a text at 590 590 questions comments whatever it is let us know we're gonna have a lot of room to get these things in in the next week because it's it's quiet right a game tonight a couple

tomorrow night and they're not i hate to say it like not exactly world beaters yeah there's six games i think over the next three nights in San Jose's and two of them, so that eliminates the intrigue. To me, I guess they want to give... Why did they pick these teams to play this late? So you got Columbus, St. Louis tomorrow, Kraken, Sharks on Wednesday. You have one good game, Ottawa, Detroit,

and then there's Kings, Predators, Sharks, Ducks. Was there any thought process? I guess you want to give the Leafs the time off because they picked the team that they thought was going to have more All-Stars on it? It's very weird. Not sure exactly. We're going to welcome in Aaron Portsline in a few minutes

to talk Columbus Blue Jackets because, I mean, it just seems like they're in the headlines all the time these days, but unfortunately it's not anything to do with on the ice. It seems to be what's around them off the ice. So we'll get Aaron in in a couple of minutes. But just before we went on break, it paid me a high compliment that someone would be listening to our show and feel the need to pull over to respond to us yes i gotta tell you how much we love that you know get involved as long as

they do it safely hey well yeah pull over safely pull over that's a key part don't they had a problem with me uh you know not everyone has agreed with your stance on that uh goal yeah this one i'm getting hammered i wasn't gonna say anything but the text line is warm i'm getting hammered wasn't gonna say anything kippy but people are pissed i think i surprised a lot of people for taking the goalie side on this yeah i think people assumed you'd be in favor of the guy yes running the crease screening the goal running goalie. Running over. What was the team? Oh, yeah. He was just bowled him right over, Kip. Yeah.

The pace was just breakneck. Like we mentioned the Oilers, 16 straight. Like to keep everybody on their toes. Yes. Got his egg sometimes. Yes. Now, are they excited for the break or are they like, no, please, let us just keep playing? Honestly, they've been playing dogs so the

this i don't mean that to take away from the streets but they've been playing like columbus chicago and like some games the oil have looked okay and they're getting the wins that's a good team does that they make other teams look kind of sad so i think they're probably ready for a break here like i don't think they've played spectacularly the last week and they still get all their wins so their last special team i'm just going back here like you know they've beaten sins blackhawks red wings canadians maple leafs kraken flames jackets blackhawks predators like it hasn't been a murder yeah it hasn't been a murderer's row like before that they beat the flyers the ducks the sharks kings like it hasn't been a murderer's row. Yeah.

But at the same time, doing it 16 times consecutively is incredibly impressive. We know from covering the Leafs closely that that's not a given. But you come back from the break, there's the Monday games, and then the Tuesday they come back. They play in Las Vegas against the Golden Knights for a chance to tie the record. How hot is that ticket? That is an excellent game because, you know,

Golden Knights kind of own them, right? That's kind of been their bitter rival and lost them in the playoffs. Get over the hump. Got to beat them. The big one. Oh, sorry. Go ahead. I forgot what I was going to say.

It happens. No one's watching. No, it's fine. Should we welcome Aaron in? Yes, that's better than me. Aaron Portsline. Covers the Columbus Blue Jackets for the athletic. We've already had you on once again, man.

You must be doing something right for us because we have no other explanation on the Columbus Blue Jackets season than you right now. How are you? Yeah, I'm being called in to talk about the accident scene. The victim. Describe the body as you found it. Yeah, yeah. That's where we're at right now again. Where do you start to really kind of, I don't know,

put a priority on what is the biggest issue right now? We know Patrick Lainey's leave of absence as well. We know that there's young players that don't believe that they should be in the American Hockey League. Like, Aaron, where do you see, you know, where the attention deservedly goes? Well, just look at this last almost 72 hours now. I on the ice they're up 4-1 in vancouver give up three power play goals in five minutes literally three of them and they end up losing

that game in overtime a recurring theme this year then they give up two power play goals they give five consecutive power play goals on five consecutive kills. Wow. A franchise record. Two tough losses, but they're kind of used to tough losses. Intertwined with all of this, as you mentioned, and I'm making light of this, Patrick Laine steps away from the team and into the NHLPA player assistance program. That is obviously something that the team is worried about, concerned about way beyond his impact as a player.

This is about Patrick Laine getting well. You've got, as you mentioned, a top prospect, a defenseman, David Yurichek in the minor leagues and not happy about it. Not happy with the way that he's been jerked around this year, told to get a place in November, get a place in Columbus. You're with us now. And four days later, sent to Cleveland to play some games. That's a mixed message. Made a healthy scratch for three games, then brought to Columbus to fly with them on their trip out West sits in the press box for a game and then flies back home,

sent back to the American hockey league. So he thinks he should be in the NHL. The blue jackets say he's not one of their six best and he's going to have to play. I'll let the two of them sort it out, but it's not a great relationship right now. And then last night, almost the topper to all of this, Adam Fantilli, one of their really bright young players, gets kicked in the back of his calf inadvertently by Jared McCann's left skate in Seattle and basically hops off the ice.

Now, I've been told it's unlikely he plays Tuesday in St. Louis. The fact that there's even any there maybe is good news, but the club has not said how serious the situation is. But to lose Adam Fantilli for any amount of time would be quite a hit for them because the 19-year-old center has been very good. All of this is swirling. The Babcock stuff at the beginning of the year, all of the losses, the Elvis Merzlikens blow up a couple of weeks back. I mean, it's just, you know, thankfully, not a lot of people are paying attention to their on-ice product because that's been rather lousy too but i think this is just way

too loud for the way the blue jackets and their ownership like to do business you just wonder what else is coming and when it might happen well and you know several times throughout listening to the synopsis there i wanted to ask a specific question about one of those things but i just want to get cut to the chase a little bit and just you know talk about what's going to change because you just you can't be a team that is this bad for this long with this many office issues of the ownership that doesn't love it like obviously i'm asking about kekaline in here you know is is that something that's going to happen this season or after the year yeah well. Well, it's a fair question.

I mean, it's more than fair. Let's be honest. Imagine if this were Toronto. I don't know that it would reach to the almost 11-year mark for Jaramillo Cacalina before questions like this surface. It's clearly the most under stress that he's been on the job. Clearly the ripest for a change in that seat I think we've seen since he's been on the job clearly the the ripest for a change in that seat i think we've seen since he's been here again third longest tenured in the nhl the one thing

that's keeping a flicker of hope here and i think there's still even with all of the young players playing as well as they have uh guys maybe some people haven't heard of yet, but deserve to. Igor Chinnikov. I mentioned Fantilli. Kirill Marchenko. They have a group of young players here. Kent Johnson, of course. Dmitry Voronkov. These are all bright spots to this season. And you would think the future. But the question, I guess, with Columbus forever has been, can you keep it together? You know, can these relationships be kept healthy and happy? Look how many players have left here. And now we're coming up on a stretch where they've got to make some pretty, not decisions,

but they've got to sign some really bright young pieces to contracts. And those have been kind of messy before. So can they keep all of this together? How long is this going to take? I mean, you know, they're on a rebuilding plan, but sort of. I mean, when you sign Johnny Gaudreau, are you in a rebuilding plan? That seems to be a quick step forward. Line A, of course course is now an issue so there's just a lot

percolating here that that they've got to deal with that i i think there's a lot of questions about where this might be headed we're talking to aaron portsline who covers the blue jackets for the athletic uh patrick line a was there uh any thoughts that he was struggling to the degree that he needed to step away? Aaron? I mean, no indication of that. He's always been an interesting guy. He's always been really difficult on himself, really hard on himself, I should say. Absolutely slays himself in interviews after rough games.

More than any player I can remember. But I don't know. I'm certainly not in a position to diagnose any of this. And we don't know what it is. It's up to Patrick, obviously, if he ever wants to divulge what that is. He seemed to indicate in an Instagram post that he's needing to get his mental health into a better place. So I'll certainly leave him at that and take his word for it.

Just one more thing on Patrick Laine and just the original trade that transpired with Winnipeg and just the overall thought that you know when he's at his best, he's one of the best shooters one of the best goal scorers but you looked from the right from the get-go that he became a Columbus Blue Jacket and you said who's who's gonna pass him the puck what elite player are you gonna put with with Patrick and I just has that ever come up in terms of conversations that you've had that, you know, you're getting this, this great goal score, but I mean, he's not a good fit right now for this team. Right. And, and, you know,

they were at a point that trade was not made because they wanted to move Pierre-Luc Dubois. They wanted to keep Pierre-Luc Dubois. But if you remember how ugly that got, I'm of a mind. And I think there are people within the blue jackets who believe to this day that they should have said to Patrick, I'm sorry, to, to BL Dubois. No, we're not trading you sit the hell down as long as you need to get your act together again and be ready to play. But they felt like that was a house on fire and had to deal with it.

They got the best deal that they could. I guess you could even look back on that and surmise that Winnipeg had a house on fire with their young player and were ready to move him as well. I don't think we've ever seen Patrick Laine at his best here, to your point, Kipper. No, he's not had the centerman he's not had the setup man he's not had the other forwards to take any heat away from him to give him open

shooting lanes on the ice the now last year starting last year they had johnny gaudreau here and they've tried those two on a line i can't tell you how many times. And it does not work. It's just, it's oil and water. And one of them has to move to the right side to facilitate that, to be on the same power play. One of them can't be in their preferred spot, the left hash. So it's not ideal in any way. Patrick was almost a point-of-game guy last year, but he hasn't been anywhere near this the electrifying player he

was early in his career with winnipeg yeah it's crazy because you know it's within him he knows it's within him and so you can understand how that frustration would boil over and yeah wishing him the best uh well he hopefully you know can get back to the guy we've seen him be before you know when i think of all these things you sort of laid laid out for us, the ones that feel that most, the GM would be most responsible for is this Juracek one, where, you know, this seems like their own doing. A player is frustrated, doesn't understand, doesn't feel like they're getting the opportunity. And I read the Juracek quotes where he compared himself to,

is it Simone Nemech and another young player who are getting this opportunity? Korchinski in Chicago. Korchinski. He's getting, they are getting this opportunity. Korchinski in Chicago. Korchinski. They're getting the opportunity, and he isn't. Is that fair that he's comparing himself to those guys at this point? Well, I think it is, and I think the other part of that comparison is where are these teams in the standing? Certainly Korchinski is probably a better comparison.

What is this season about at this point? And I think this is the fans' frustration too. It's like, you know, they just played a game in Edmonton and Connor McDavid is there and Adam Fantilli goes through the entire game playing on the left wing without taking any face-offs in that game. And to me, I'm saying that is such a missed opportunity right there. These games don't matter now from a win-loss perspective. How can you maximize the importance of these games?

What can you get out of these games to use these to your best benefit? David Juracek was a healthy scratch in that game. Sat in the press box in Edmonton. So now next time they play Edmonton, it will be the first time David Juracek understands, if he's in that game, understands the gap you have to take. I hear defensemen talk about this all the time with McDavid.

It's just different to be on the ice with him. And now he still doesn't know. Now Adam Fantilli has gone through that game. Maybe they'll play against him in March when the Oilers are in nationwide. But it just feels like a wasted opportunity. And there's been so many games like this where nothing against Andrew Peake, nothing against Jake Bean. But you know who those guys are. And Jurecekk is the future of this franchise, not being not peak. I mean, they could stick around for a few years again. Nothing against them.

But this is your top dog. I don't have a problem, honestly, if they would have made the decision at the start of the season. He's going to play in the AHL. But from a managerial standpoint, it makes no sense to play him that 10th game as they did pretty early, engage the first year of his contract. And it makes zero sense. It almost seems like you're messing with the guy to tell him to get a place. He has an apartment sitting empty in Columbus now while he's living in a hotel in Cleveland to, to tell a player to get a place.

That's such a big moment in a young player's career. That says you've made it. And I know teams typically don't have that conversation until it is abundantly clear that the player is going to stick. To say that, to tell that player that, and then boom, back to the AHL, it feels a lot herky-jerky. I think the year at Czech camp has taken some of it personally, and I'm not sure why that would be. Aaron, as soon as we get throughky-jerky, and I think the Eurocheck camp has taken some of it personally, and I'm not sure why that would be. Aaron, as soon as we get through All-Star Weekend,

these GMs are going to be on the clock when it comes to the trade deadline. Is there a sense that Yarmou has the green light from ownership to do what's necessary moving forward? Will they pull the reins in on him? Does he have the freedom now to continue? Or is this just something that we all believe will get reassessed in the offseason? Yeah, well, I think one of the tough questions with a move like this is, do you let them have the trade deadline if you're going to fire them as soon as the season's over?

Like, how toxic is this direction? How little faith do you have in that person to do the right thing? If you look at their roster, the only prominent UFA is Jack Roslevic. Not a big return there. He's going to get traded if they can find a taker. The other two big ones, Laine and Al would appear off the table. That's not likely to happen. But that's a player who, because of all the young players pushing up into the lineup,

it would have made a lot of sense to move him at the trade deadline. I think Merzlikens is untradeable as much for his on-ice play as for his reputation across the league. And I think the other sort of veteran player who has a contract beyond this year, who could be a consideration, is Ivan Provorov with the emergence of Denton Matejchuk, who could be here as soon as Moosejaw's season ends, will be here probably for the start of next season. So they could be fairly aggressive, but we're talking Provorov as a possibility, Roslevic as a likelihood. I'm not sure those are big enough moves to feel there's an urgency

to make a change in that spot before the end of the season. But it depends on what ownership is thinking. And they don't like to share their thoughts with us very often. Okay, so let's eliminate them and make you the owner right now. Yes. What do you do in June? One of the great benefits of an awful season like this is you've got quite a ramp up to consider things, don't you? Yeah. You don't get to the end of the season and make the call.

So by now, if I'm ownership or if I'm John Davidson, I would want to have a name in mind. This is who my next GM is going to be. And the question is, can I get them now? Are they currently employed with the team? Most of those guys you could not get out at this time of season for obvious reasons. If I can't get my guy until after the season and I feel like it's gotten toxic with Jurecek, then maybe I do make that move and let Chris Clark,

a very highly respected former player, former captain of the Capitals, toxic with, with Yurichek, then maybe I do make that move and let Chris Clark, a very highly respected former player, former capital of the, or captain of the capitals, former blue jacket himself has been an assistant GM here for a few years. I don't think he's a permanent solution just yet, but he seems a steady hand who could absolutely carry the reins for a short time. But again, those are decisions to be made. What do you think they need? Do they need the experience of somebody that's been around just to settle this thing down?

Could you bring in Rick Nash and give him more responsibility or potentially groom him? Well, I don't think Rick Nash wants to be a GM. I think he has his eyes more ultimately on the president's chair. For me, this is why I employ John Davidson if I'm the owner of the Blue Jackets. That is, as trusted a person as you'll find in hockey, he's had an incredible career. He may be ready to retire. For me, his last job with the Blue Jackets would be to find me a new GM and settle off into the sunset together. I think this job needs a veteran GM for sure,

one who understands culture, obviously has an ability to do the other things, but understands the culture of the place and is a people person because that's what's been needed here for a while aaron great stuff man really appreciate your time and uh shedding some light on uh the situation in columbus thanks for doing this yeah thanks a lot thank you guys thanks for having me here in porcelain from the athletic yeah once in a while you know you gotta

look into a team that we don't you you know, see a lot or whatever. Because a lot's going wrong, Kip. Yeah. Is that the longest tenured guy? He said third longest tenured GM. He said closing in on 11. 11 years. If you are in last and you've been the GM, you know, you can't claim you're rebuilding it.

You've got it where it is. Why do I think you're the guy to get it out? we wish patrick liney the best of course absolutely um and i'm not here to tell you that what i i know what's going on with him but i can tell you for sure this is a guy that's lacked confidence now for a long time here and he's very good at what he does and at one point on a trajectory just like austin it was or is yeah i saw a highlight reel from his rookie year on tiktok yesterday and it was like he's breathtaking breathtaking player. Yeah. Like his, like not the speed, obviously, but just. Six as long as this table. Rangey, that snapper, confident.

Like it's crazy how quickly. He's 25. Yeah. You know. 25 and he was. 25. He was on pace for one of the youngest goal scorers, you know, out of the gate. His first two years, he scored 80 goals.

Over those two years. Oh, his numbers were off the charts. 36 and 44 his first two years. You know, and over those numbers were off the chart 36 and 44 his first two years remember the hype too it was it was austin and patrick yeah going head to head yeah i'll never forget that game the leases were up four zip they blew up and line a scored the overtime winner and so i guess you know i don't i don't think you can write this kid off no you know he's such a talent he's so young you get him right i mean i don't know if he write this kid off. No. You know, he's such a talent. He's so young. You get him right. I mean, I don't know if he's happy in Columbus,

if he would like a fresh start somewhere else. That's totally my words. If I were another GM in the league, but I would certainly love to talk to them and be like, is there a chance we can be the team to try again with this guy? Because he got in the right spot with his head right. Obviously, what a special player. I don't anticipate him

being even available not this year you know not this year yeah but you're absolutely right that you you'd be crazy to write him off as long as he feels good again and he can get the help that he needs yeah um we are still talking about one of the best pure shooters in the game yeah makes 8.7 this year and then two more on that deal at 8.7 really i thought i didn't know it was that high i and he kind of brought up one of the more fascinating things with sports is that when you're bad and it's like time to sell things off but the reason you're bad is the general manager that's in place well that's not the only reason clearly but like it's such a want that i even felt that last year with dubas at the deadline when it was you know

like are we sure dubas is the one to make decisions he's got no contract he is the one then extend them yes either key you know you kind of got to make that decision before you let them make the decision in retrospect he kind of burned the boats he sure did but kind of no he burned the boats right so it's like, looking back on that, everyone just assumed he was going to sign. I think he assumed he was going to sign. I think Shani assumed he was going to sign. I think they did until two days before he didn't.

It all came down to a fateful press conference, boys. All right, what are we doing, game time? Yeah, let's do game time. It's game time. Presented by Bet365. Visit the app for the latest odds, and find out why it's never ordinary at Bet365. Must be 19+. Terrier only. Please

play responsibly. Now, I just don't usually do this because I always lose. But maybe I should just get outside of hockey to start winning some bets. I did a, this weekend, a parlay between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Detroit Lions. And you may be asking yourself, but Sam.

The Lions lost. Oh, they did. But Bet365 has a feature where if one team in football, I'm not sure what it is exactly in hockey. I think it may be three goals in hockey. But in football, it's 17 points. So if your team that you bet on goes up 17 points, you get an early payout

so i won a bet on a two-team parlay where one of the teams lost so that's three six five there you go there you go so uh i was really surprised by that uh it was really nice and i went played hockey what were the what was the 10 like five to one it was 10 to one it was 10 to one. It was 10-1? 10-1. That's a nice parlay. So it's funny because I went on the ice at halftime. Like I watched the game, went to a rink in my neighborhood, got off the ice and looked at my phone.

I was like, oh, my God. What the hell happened? So, yeah. So, you know, we're at the, not the halfway mark here, but I was just looking at some of the futures here. Who do you guys think is the favorite for the MVP? Is it McKinnon now? Kipper?

I think Nate's probably running away with it. Pull it up here. I had it. I think you guys are probably right. He is a minus 130 favorite to win the Hart Trophy now. So Nikita Kucherov next at plus 300. Connor McDavid at plus 400. Austin Matthews is the next closest at plus 1,400.

So they believe that those three guys are the only ones who could win it. I mean, plus 1,400. How many assists for Nate McKinnon? A lot. He's got 53 assists and 31 goals and 84 points. Nice balance. Nice balance. Find someone who loves passing like Kipper loves passing.

And the other one I wanted to check in on, the Jack Adams Award. The two favorites are Rick Tockett at plus 110, so pretty heavy favorite. Rick bonus, 4-1. And then it jumps up to Chris Knobloch at 10-1. Yeah, well. Buddy, if all you do is win.

Win. You know? But what's the precedent? I actually don't hate betting on him. What's the precedence for a guy taking over in November and winning coach of the year? Has that happened? I think it has.

I'm trying to think back. Yeah. I don't know who back. I think some, yeah. I don't know who, but I think, I think someone's come in late to a race and won it. I think so too. Yeah. I just don't know who. So that might not be the worst.

Can I go back to football? Is it just a foregone conclusion that Lions coach comes back next year? Gotta be. Yeah. I actually loved what he said after the game. I hated it. Yeah?

What did he say? I didn't see it. He said, I wouldn't change my mind. Oh i didn't like that part i was referring it was a little too quick to to double down on his decision i agree with you on that you should show some introspection and reevaluate when things don't work there's no growth if you just say i was right i was right yeah and i do it again so i was referring to he told his team that may be it for us like we may not get back here another dumb thing to say i i liked the idea that he he's framed it as we're gonna have to work twice as hard to get back here you know it's not like a given a good team gets back so not only

are your fans crushed about this year now they're crushed next year too yeah we have made it double crushed that's a message to the team that like, you know, we're not going to go home and celebrate this year as a victory. You put in some work this offseason. So, oh,

my early, the early line for the Super Bowl is plus 105 for the Chiefs or underdogs. In my opinion, smash it.

Anytime you can get maybe the greatest quarterback of all time as a favorite i'm sorry as an underdog you would you probably do it i did it this weekend was like watching that game anyone who bet on lamar as a favorite i'm sorry that was just dumb it was it's patrick mahomes and taylor swift the one thing you did say today that I do not agree with you, and that was when it comes to Detroit and Campbell, is that, well, it worked all regular season.

Just stick with it. No. Well, that's your identity. Playoffs, buddy. That's your identity. That's how you got there. Playoffs. Different beast.

New lessons. New strategy. We've got to win one game. This isn't something you build on. You have to think differently for every moment. There is no tomorrow. So could ownership in Detroit say, yeah, you can get us this far, but to go to the next level now to win these games, we need, I don't know,

Belichick. No. I'm just throwing it out there. The culture shift that came with Dan Campbell, they have completely changed the franchise. I know they have. The Detroiters are proud to follow this man. He was on the 0-16 team.

He's the whole thing. I can be sold on giving him one more chance. That's all. But I will say, my thoughtful, well-rounded friend, I agree that different circumstances call for different chance. Yeah. That's all. But I will say, my thoughtful, well-rounded friend, I agree that they, you know, different circumstances call for different thinking. Yes. And just because you hammered her home all year long.

And there's some guys that can coach in the regular season, but they can't coach in the playoffs. Yeah. And you look at who's in the Super Bowl, it's like a lot of the same guys are usually in the Super Bowl. Like Andy Reid seems to be there a lot. Kyle Shanahan seems to be near there a lot. Like it's always the, Belichick was there a lot.

That's what's crazy. The Chiefs have just turned into the Patriots. They just win games. They're just not supposed to. Anyways, that's enough football for today. I kind of wish that Mahomes had beat Brady in their, in their, one of the battles. And if he had, if he had.

The numbers would look different. Dee Ford wasn't offside. They would have beat him in the AFC Championship game in 2019 or 2018. So there you go. Anyways, that was Game Time presented by Bet365. Visit the app for the latest odds and find out why it's never ordinary. Bet365 must be 19 plus. Ontario only.

Please play responsibly. Okay, let's take a quick break. When we come back, we'll get into our news and notes, including the Ottawa Senators. Elliot had his second intermission, dropped the name Chris Tanev on the Ottawa Senators. We had his second intermission, dropped the name Chris Tanov on the Ottawa Senators. We'll talk about that.

He says pardon. We'll talk about Brock Besser, 30-goal scorer. Sorry. The what? The champ. You ever heard the champ cartoon? No, the movie with that little Ricky Snyder or whatever. I don't remember. He's probably like 58 now.

What? Ricky. You can ignore Kip and I. Kip and I are on two bad tangents at the same time. You weren't even. The movie I'm talking about, you weren't even born. I guarantee you. Old farts.

Time to break. All right. You heard the man. Back after these words. Big opinions and in-depth conversations covering the Leafs, Jays, Raptors, and the NFL. The J.D. Bunkins Podcast. Subscribe and download the show on Apple, Spotify,

or wherever you get your podcasts. Welcome back to the end of the Real Kipper and Bourne Show. Guys, on the weekend, we learned that former Ottawa Senator forward Alex Farmington turned himself in to the London police. Five players were told last week by London Police Services to surrender in connection with allegations of a sexual assault in June 2018 on a woman by members of the 2018 Canadian World Junior Hockey Team. I mean, I don't know what else we can add to this

without knowing definitively what the next steps are. It's not us avoiding it. It's not us, you know, trying to bury things that you often get accused of doing. We just don't know where this story is going, except that we anticipate four other guys between now and maybe February 5th when there's a, excuse me, London police will hold a press conference. Right, and just not even not comfortable discussing or speculating. Just not, you know, we're not able to.

It's not, you know, this is not a place where you're allowed to sit up here and go, here's maybe what happened or what might happen. We're just letting it play out like everyone else. Extremely serious matter. There's no speculation at this time for it. So there's one of four or one of five, I guess, that have turned themselves in place. Waiting for that. Outside of that,

the Ottawa Senators look like they were in decent shape against the New York Rangers on the weekend. Went up two. Except given up the next seven goals. Oh my God. God, I'm still out here just believing in the Senators team, and it's nonsense.

We need to watch them tonight. I know. I actually, I bet on them tonight. The one that blew me away was the face-off where Kreider just skated into it and let this 50-foot wrist shot go far side. Yeah. I'm like...

You just can't win games if you don't get a save. You just can't. You can't even play. You don't trust anyone. No. You don't trust that you can take an extra second with the puck. You can't play hockey. It was supposed to be better with Corpus Allo.

It was supposed to be, we're going to give you $20 million and we're going to get decent goaltending, and we're ready to compete. Yeah, what's the league average? 903? Teams will play $5 million for a 903 in a heartbeat. Just give me a 903.

Give us a chance. Yeah, he's not that. Not at 903. So it doesn't matter how bad he is. He's at 86. It won't matter how bad he is between now and the end of the season. He's going to get a chance to go home, work out, get his mind and body ready, and then try this thing again.

And then fork in the road time for him. He's either Jack Campbell on waivers, or he's going to be the number one goalie for the ottawa senators next november says we did the bit on ilya samsonov in the first half where it's like you're the first half of the show where it's like yeah come out and play really well and play in the nhl or don't and don't but i was just gonna say that but this is a team that just experienced that with matt murray the last you know, year and a half prior. Well, I guess, like, did you look at the Corpus Allo and go,

sign and go, good bet. I did not. You did not. You were definitively against it. Yes. So where is someone in that organization going, maybe not, maybe this isn't our guy. Why do we think he's our guy?

We don't often get, you said Ottawa. I was looking at the text. I don't often get texts that on a Friday don't get me here. But what is a worse trade from last summer? Is it Penn's Eric Carlson or the Kings' Pierre-Luc Dubois? Was Carlson been that bad? I think he's been okay at times for them. Dubois, what has he given them?

Nothing. The Kings are eight. Depends if power play is the worst in the league. The Kings are 2-8-6. The last 16 after going 27-4 to start. Like, they're now, like, threatening their whole season. I can't believe the Penguins power plays 13%. Is it the worst? 31st.

Chicago's worst. Listen, the Penguins are not going to miss the playoffs. No. And that's because everybody else just doesn't want it. Sid, he's just unbelievable. He's willing that team to victory every night. The Penguins are, are you know they're outside looking in right now nipping at the heels of uh of detroit in terms of winning percentage

i think they'll get into it they can't really no so who's better like pittsburgh like they've got too many good players yeah it's like looking at edmonton earlier in the year. It's like they have too many good players to be bad. So to answer the question, you think it's purely Duvall? Yeah. Did you tweet the clip of Pittsburgh's power play at the top the way they were passing it back and forth? I don't know if you saw this clip.

No, but was it against the Panthers? Because I watched that game in its entirety and their power play, they had eight chances. They scored once and they may have had three scoring chances the entire time. It was just Ericlson doing the gretzky shuffle across the blue line no one moving the puck no one's like god it's tough to watch yeah there it goes up to him he stands there tries to blast one through balkan shoots it from the half wall not good i think the leafs is bad not good and I'm not here to suggest that

Todd McClellan's job in LA is in jeopardy well you don't have to suggest it people are but I will say this conversations like you're not during this all-star break in LA

you're not avoiding the internal conversation there that is this a coaching issue? Is something not right here? Like that conversation is going on right now in LA. I think the hard part is that this team was pretty garbage. He hung in there.

He's actually been there a long time. I think he's one of the, I don't know, sixth, seventh, eighth longest tenured guys in the league at this point. But he rode through the garbage with them, Kip. The bad years to get it going here, and he's helped it get going in this direction.

I'm not sure it's fair entirely to say, you've taken it from here to here, and now that it won't go farther, you know, you don't get any time to try. He got fired after 20 games in Edmonton in 18-19, and then he took over the Kings job in 19-20.

So, it's been, he's in his fourth season, or fifth season. So, there you go. Buddy, the turnover with coaches, that's way up there. This is a team that cannot miss the playoffs. I mean, that's what Dubois was all about here next level stuff yeah they were really but then they gave him a massive contract like only four coaches have been with their team longer than mcclellan right now anyways brindamore that was an interesting question cooper yeah for sure it is uh anyway keith is right there i mentioned saturday elliot in the second

intermission i saw him uh link chris tan of to ottawa which you know his sources are impeccable i don't doubt him for one second right but i'm asking why what is happening why well could this be in the fantasy land version of what i'm talking about like the canucks in heronic where you say they got a guy when it didn't seem to make sense but then he was there within the next year and it really just worked when did they i don't mind did i sell anyone get heronic when did they mid last season or at the deadline last year he traded a first you know heronic was 24 when they got him but he was kind of his not. But he wasn't... Cannabis not. But Hronik wasn't on his way to becoming an unrestricted free agent.

RFA? I don't know. Yeah, I think it was RFA. But, like, you're going to miss the playoffs in Ottawa. So why not just wait for him in the offseason? Why are you now giving the impression that you may go after him now i guess you're worried someone else is going to get him at the deadline and sign him but you can always overpay yeah not if they get him first i i would think at this point there's some protection in chris tannev's contract i.e

a 10 team i don't know 12 team-team, 5-team. Like, does he want to go to, does he want to get traded to Ottawa in the next few months to miss the playoffs in what is still considered prime years? I think he lives in the beaches. I think he'd be happy to be back in Ontario. I saw him on After Hours with Scott Oak and Francis talking about square boy burgers.

So it's like, I mean, it's right near here. He wants to play in the spring. Yeah. Go to Ottawa and you're done. This year. Yeah.

This year. Yeah. No, I, so I agree with you. It sounds like a crazy idea, but yeah, if Ottawa wants to trade for a guy for next year's purposes,

Tanev's probably not. I will say I was at say, I was at an establishment that serves alcohol on Saturday after a Leafs talk, and I was watching the thrilling Blackhawks and Flames game. 1-0 win for the Blackhawks, but then after

that, they had Chris Tanev on after hours, and I couldn't have, there's no sound on. I'm like, that guy just, get him on the Leafs. His teeth, his hair, I'm like, that guy looks like'm like, that guy just, get him on the Leafs. Like, don't look at him. He's got his teeth, his hair. I'm like, that guy looks like he's in Shorzy. Get him on the Leafs.

That's Shane McCain for me. He looks like an old time. He's a warrior. Anyways. Where would you pay him? Because he's a free agent. You want to give him T.J. Brody's money? He wants a new contract. I think the.

He's 33. Yeah. The prudent thing for me with him is you look at him like, are you really going to spend the whatever it takes? Probably be a first. There's a ton of teams that want him. It's going to be a first round pick to get him, don't you think? Yes.

The deadline, yeah. Do you want to spend that first when you're not necessarily sure that this is the team and you can maybe get him in the offseason for money? You would have to know that he was going to sign with you yeah yeah and that would be minimum five million times three three maybe four how about four times three? That's my negotiating. How does not not sound? I love his game. He's a great guy, and he's got this reputation for being a leader,

and you just listen to Calgary talk about him, and that's a hole that you can't easily fill. It's funny when you look at last year's deadline for the Leafs and getting a guy like Ryan O'Reilly and Luke Shen who just were great guys and workers and did their job and really kept things moving in a positive winning direction. There's not a ton

of guys where you know they have those qualities. Tanev seems to be one of them. Just got another text that's relevant to our conversation. Always leaving the Canucks till the end of the show with short mention. And they are the best team in the league.. And they are the best team in the league. Yes. They are the best team in the league.

They haven't struggled lately with their wins. They're winning. Oh, yeah. But they're not their best wins. 71 points in 49 games, 33-11-5, 724 winning percentage. I'd just like to clarify for everyone out there, there's not some mandate we touch on all seven Canadian teams in every show.

We do a pretty good job at times. We tend to respond better to teams where their hair's on fire. Right, that's far more. Not winning. We've actually said this about... Boring. Yeah, we're like, look at this successful team. They should continue to do those things.

We can get a guy on to talk Columbus today. The Canucks, they are so good. So good. So good. And what's the name I find there, didn't he? The chaos giraffe. Yeah, for the elbow. Yeah.

The chaos giraffe. Yeah. That's a great handle. Yeah, I've seen that a little bit. Yeah, he flies around out there. I will say, if you're a Canucks fan, I would say be hesitant about labeling your team the best team in the league or the favorite because that's just extra pressure. Coaches

vie for the right to be the underdog in playoffs. Cooper and Keefe got in a dog. Oh Tampa Bay. We're awful. Have you seen us? We're a joke. If we're going to talk Canucks let's talk about their lineup. They have to still move some money out to

bring something of significance in so people are talking about Gensel Jake Gensel okay for I don't see for one second right now Kyle Dubas trading Gensel. Can't. Can't. Gensel just breaks that rock. Aren't they the same guy? That's not the guy, but where do you move money out? Garland was hey, go cut your own deal. We're exhausted trying to trade you.

He's good. And now he's coming in as arguably one of the best third line players in the league. You know where you lead me. It's Kuzmenko. Talk doesn't love him. Kuzmenko. He's good. And now he's coming in as arguably one of the best third-line players in the league. You know where you lead me. It's Kuzmenko. Talk doesn't love him. Kuzmenko.

They got to move. Kuzmenko's five and a half out. Q Suter has taken on those minutes and that opportunity, and he's thriving. Which you should be able to push. How old's Kuzmenko? Kuzmenko's 27. Hey hey ottawa you spending money before the deadline the other one um i mentioned in my article last uh week was uh cali of an la they they got it

la's got to trade him if they're not going to use him and And he's 22, 3? 5 maybe? 24, 25? Just looking at Vancouver, not a lot of Canadians on the Canucks. No, actually zero Canadian forwards. Yeah, I'm just looking through. I don't think Bluger's Canadian. No, they're all American. Americans, Russians,

Sweden. It's crazy. I really don't care. Looking at that, that's rare. It's extremely rare. So maybe that's the key. Get rid of all your Canadians and you'll win. So last week, we talked a lot about Rick Tockett and Petey.

And did we make it a bigger story than it actually was in Vancouver, Sammy? Could have been us. What do we do? Could have been us. Okay. I mean, I like that we made it a big story

because they make a big story out of everything Toronto does so it's nice to have it be reversed I just assume it was a big story out there that's why you

you brought it up did Todd call you no nobody what are they gonna say did Jimmy Rutherford call you nobody he's a kipper come on bro

we've been friends for 100 years well if he did I'd just say yeah it's our producer Sammy McKee I didn't want to say anything listen I know I've been in this business a long time I don't know how to for 100 years? Well, if he did, I'd just say, yeah, it's our producer, Sammy McKee. I didn't want to say anything. Listen, I know I've been in this business a long time.

I don't know how to sensationalize. They were built this way, these kids. Yeah. We grew up doing. Another text from Hooger. Can we get Sam and Kipper to switch positions for a day? I want to see Kipper produce this since he is on Sammy all the time. It's a fascinating suggestion. Here's what I'll say, Hooger. It won't go wellmy all the time it's a fascinating suggestion but

it won't go well for sammy producer great job you'll have bretsky on and you'll start calling him the favorite to make me look bad yeah yeah a one show kipper produce show would be our we gotta nail somebody fun this week though though. Who do you think we after? It's in Toronto. You got to get one of your Toronto buddies. Yeah, we got to get somebody. You know who we had that was good last year? Cujo was good.

Cujo. Yeah. Who are the captains in the All-Star game? Bieber. Bieber. Michael Bublé. Bublé. Tate something or other.

McCray. Oh, Tate McCray. I don't know. Tate. Should be a good interview. And Will. Yes, Will Arnett. Can we get Will Arnett? Will Arnett.

I absolutely love. I would love to get him on the show. Sammy, get to work. Danielle, what are you up to, buddy? Someone send a text, will you? Just go Dan on it. He's the real brains of this operation. And just a note, this Friday, where are we, Sammy? Metro?

Metro Convention Center, I think. Oh, the Fan Fest. Fan Fest for 4 to 6. Yes, sir. And I will have a couple of hats, real Kipper and Bourne hats, and Sammy, too. Will you get a t-shirt gun? Don't have the gun.

But we'll give away a couple of hats. My son may be stopping by, too. Oh, how exciting. I'll get him on the mic for a minute. I'm kidding. He's not going to say anything. How exciting. No, no.

He's hosting. He wouldn't do much worse than I do. I'm going to start the party, the weekend party. You guys want to hear about Roblox? Yeah, Roblox. Roblox. Yeah, yeah. That's how you know you don't have kids right there.

Yes, there you go. Okay, well, sorry I missed that. It's a game you should have invested in a year ago. Roblox. Oh, it's very popular. Like Cabbage Patch Dolls? It's exactly like Cabbage Patch Dolls. You nailed it.

Pokemon. One of those things that's worth a billion dollars right now. Yeah, you got it, Dad. It's always everybody but us. I know. Inventing that stuff. Leave me, I know. Okay, Aaron Portsortsline thank you for

your time today good job guys not bad for Monday yeah what do you want to talk about tomorrow Ottawa Nashville we're just going to repeat this show okay gonna go and hang out for lunch look for Cujo and

we'll earn it thanks for joining us everybody get chance, give us a rating and review. We'd love to hear from you. Back tomorrow.